Dixie State University announced the contractor who will build the school’s new Human Performance Center on Thursday as the St. George institution prepares for returning students to begin the fall semester.

Layton Construction, based in Sandy with satellite operations in Arizona, Idaho, California, Florida, Tennessee and Hawaii, will break ground on the 155,000-square-foot educational and athletic facility in October, DSU spokeswoman Jyl Hall said.

“It’s going to be a really big building that will change the landscape of the campus,” Hall said.

St. George has become a mecca for people looking for outdoor recreation, hassle-free open space and sunshine. While a building boom continues to drive population numbers upward amid debates about how the region will manage its natural resources, agency managers grapple with questions about how to avoid marring the very quality of life so many people are seeking.

“There’s a difference between desert and beautiful desert,” said Marc Mortensen, the assistant to the St. George city manager.

DSU trustees advanced an exercise science degree in March 2015 that served as the initial offering for its new Health and Human Performance department, but since then more programs have added to the university’s “Active Learning, Active Life” strategic plan to prepare students for careers in athletic and healthcare industries.

The building will also house a variety of athletic facilities including an Olympic-sized swimming pool open to the public during non-academic hours.

The point of convergence between an athletic lifestyle and a vigorous healthcare industry that helps people remain active is where cooperative programs operated by the university and Dixie Regional Medical Center have set their sights.

“That’s the future of our area right there,” Mortensen said. “It’s just a natural.”

Mortensen said he and his family spend a majority of their leisure time out of doors enjoying the St. George region’s landscape, and he envisions the day when scientific and technological entrepreneurship in medical fields will join the construction industry and tourism as primary economic drivers at the local level.

“We’re constantly out on trails either hiking or biking, and we run into people from all over the world,” he said. “Outdoor recreation is an important part of our brand as a community.”

Dixie State President Richard “Biff” Williams helped launch six health and human performance degrees at Indiana State University before coming to Southern Utah, as well as a human performance center public-private partnership at the University of Northern Iowa. The ISU program attracted “hundreds and hundreds” of students immediately after opening, he said last year.

Dixie Applied Technology College, which expects to open a new campus on the Black Hill plateau overlooking downtown St. George in the fall, will also add medical field coursework, DXATC President Kelle Stephens said Thursday.

DXATC offers emergency medical technician courses and First Aid certification, but the entire third floor of its "professional building" will be dedicated to new courses for medical assistants, certified nurse assistants, healthcare coding and pharmacy technicians.

There is also a proposal to begin offering practical nursing courses for students who want to become licensed in the state. Stephens said construction is well ahead of schedule and will be done in September, so the first students will move onto the hill Oct. 2.

Dixie State’s Human Performance Center will sit on the corner of 300 South and 700 East (University Avenue), a virtual stone’s throw from the Holland Centennial Commons library, office and classroom facility that serves as a social hub for the university’s campus.

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In August of 1988 Spectrum photographer Nancy Rhodes took a series of images looking out over St. George and Washington cities from the Eastridge development on top of Foremaster Ridge. This image from the series shows the St. George Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and most of the Dixie College campus in addition to numerous other businesses and buildings in downtown St. George. The east side of Interstate 15 was completely empty in 1988 and the university campus has also undergone dramatic changes.(Photo: The Spectrum & Daily News file photo)

Hall said the new HPC will be about the same size as the 170,000-square-foot Holland building. Portions of the HPC will be three stories high, other parts will be five stories high, with a total size of 155,000 square feet.

Layton, which built the Eccles Fine Arts facility and the new Campus View Suites dorms on Dixie’s campus as well as the Tuacahn complex and Southern Utah Veterans Home in Ivins City, will break ground on the project during Homecoming Week, which runs from Oct. 23-28, she said.

MHTN Architects has been selected to manage the architectural work and Hastings+Chivetta is providing planning and design services.

Before construction starts, the university will eliminate its tennis courts on the southeast side of the intersection to create new ground-level parking. Hall said that will begin within the next couple of weeks.

Eventually, the university intends a mixed-use parking garage and office space structure at the site.

The HPC building will be on the northeast corner, where visitor and student parking now exists next to the Old Gym. The Old Gym will not be affected by the construction project.

Construction is expected to be done by July 2019, in time to be used during that fall semester. University Avenue will not be affected by the construction and traffic will continue to flow on the 300 South spur, Hall said, but the street parking on the spur will be eliminated.

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Dixie State University dental hygiene students prepare to receive their diplomas during May 2017 commencement exercises.(Photo: Kevin Jenkins / The Spectrum & Daily News)

No plans have been formalized for replacing the tennis courts yet, she said. Plans have previously been presented for placing the tennis courts west of the old East Elementary school acquired by DSU, but Hall said court reconstruction will not take place in the immediate future.

The $50 million building project is funded by a $25 million appropriation that will be finalized by the Utah Legislature next year, $4 million in cash raised by students through annual fees, and a $16 million bond based on future student fees.

The Washington County Commission donated $1 million “because they’ve seen an economic value in bringing an Olympic-sized pool that we can program” for the public, Williams said last year.

Hall clarified Thursday, however, that the pool won't be available for open recreational swimming. The county may use it for special events and the Washington County School District will probably use it for high school meets, she said.

A remaining $4 million came from St. George City and an anonymous donor, according to Hall.

The HPC's facilities will include a fitness center, a track, a climbing wall and basketball courts that convert to indoor soccer venues. The 50-meter swimming pool with deck space will be the only pool in Southern Utah large enough to meet NCAA requirements for Division II competitions and only the second in the state to be that size.

The facility will be equipped to host local, regional and state high school games, Huntsman World Senior Games competitions and community-sponsored sports events.